Laguna Beach: the artsy Californian town has been a queer magnet for over a century.

Provincetown, Mass., has the charm and Miami has the scene, but if you're talking beauty, those homo East Coast enclaves are distant runners-up to Laguna Beach, Calif. Artists, gays, and anyone with their bohemian credentials in order have flocked to its sandy beaches and dramatic bluffs for a century. Hollywood caught on to the scenic area early; Mary Pickford, Judy Garland, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, and Mickey Rooney all had homes here, and in 1920 showbiz types founded the Laguna Playhouse, the oldest continuously operating theater company on the West Coast. In addition, scores of visitors flock here every summer to the famous annual Pageant of the Masters, where famous paintings are reenacted by live models on opulent sets. Yet Laguna (population 24,000) is the kind of place where there is one movie house with two films instead of a megaplex with 20.

Situated on the Pacific Coast Highway in Orange County, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, artsy Laguna is the kind of beach town that retains its serenity during the sunny, extended off-season, which consists of everything but summer, when the kids are out of school and the place animates into O.C. overdrive. But even then the air is fragrant with sage and gays are welcomed. Five years ago Paul Blank and his partner, Francois Leclair, turned a roadside "dump" into the verdantly landscaped Casa Laguna Inn, and he says that "as a business and as a couple, our existence here is encouraged by everyone from the city planners to the local police department." At Casa Laguna a laid-back clientele of gays and straights mingle easily at breakfast and beside a cozy pool.

The queer presence is felt mostly on and around Mountain Road, where you'll find the Gay Mart card shop, a late-night cafe called the Koffee Klatch, and Woody's at the Beach, an upscale gay bar-restaurant with a popular deck. Also here is the town's only gay nightclub, the Boom Boom Room, which fronts the Coast Inn, an unpretentious deco structure with low rates and killer water views.

Though some gays collect on the thin, somewhat rocky beach just below the Boom, most flock to the world-class stunner just south of town between 11th and West streets. The guys are buff, but the atmosphere is friendly, with little of the frenzy you get on Florida's South Beach--mostly because no one is pressured to make elaborate nighttime plans. There's simply the Boom (where I once met a laconic David Geffen) or the drive home to Los Angeles. Of course, a few fortunate sons can retire to the million-dollar homes nestled in the canyons above town.

To truly appreciate Laguna, get off the beaten gay path. Few have been to Heisler Park, even though the spectacular vistas have been reproduced in countless paintings and calendars. Hole up in style at the newly redesigned Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel just south of the gay beach, sitting on a 150-foot cliff like Xanadu. Take one of streets called Pearl, Diamond, Ruby, or Moss toward the ocean, because they all lead to Ocean Way, a half-mile lane parallel to the Coast Highway. Here you'll find shimmering coves and rock arches--and the former home of Bette Davis at 1991 Ocean Way. The 1929 Tudor cottage is marked by a fancy script D on the chimney. Bette chose Laguna Beach to put her initial on. She knew what she was doing.